Jeff Fletcher | October 25, 2010

Both teams set their probable rotations for the World Series (I say probable, because things can always change). The Giants are flipping Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez back to their original order, with Cain in Game 2 and Sanchez in Game 3. Madison Bumgarner will pitch Game 4. No real surprise there. Because this series starts in San Francisco, as opposed to the NLCS, Game 3 is now in the more homer-friendly park, so it makes sense to have Sanchez pitch that one. Also, frankly, Cain pitched a helluva lot better than Sanchez in the NLCS, so there’s that obvious reason. Oh yeah, Tim Lincecum is pitching Game 1. Duh.

(Having Sanchez lined up for Game 7 is a little dicey, but as we’ve seen, Bruce Bochy won’t let him get in too deep of a hole if he’s not good.)

As for the Rangers rotation, they’ve got Cliff Lee, followed by C.J. Wilson, Colby Lewis and Tommy Hunter. I think that actually helps the Giants out. Games 3-5 will be in Texas, where the Giants will need a DH. If Lewis, a righty, went Game 2 and Wilson, a lefty, went Game 3, that would mean the Giants would see two lefties in the three games in Texas. That would have been bad, when you consider the Giants DH options.

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Jeff Fletcher | October 25, 2010

Today’s FanHouse story is about the Giants home-grown rotation, with a little of the background of how each of the four starters came to be Giants.

In the story I give Sabean credit for not trading any of the pitchers. I think it’s legitimate to give credit for that because there were a lot of people — like me — who thought he should have traded one of those guys to get a bat. Turns out he just needed to wait around until something good fell off the garbage truck (Pat Burrell, Cody Ross).

I specifically remember thinking the Giants should have traded Tim Lincecum for Alex Rios back in the winter of 07-08. Rios, I reasoned, was a legit middle of the order hitter right now, while Lincecum was a guy who looked promising for a half season. Rios was 26 years old, coming off a season in which he was an All-Star right fielder who hit 24 homers with an .852 OPS. Lincecum was 23, and he had a 4.00 ERA in 24 big league starts. Even today, if you look at that, it doesn’t look like such a lopsided deal. Only if you know what the next few years hold does it seem to be a no-brainer. So, give Sabean credit for that one.

Anyway, there is going to be tons of good World Series stuff at FanHouse, beyond what I write, so you should definitely bookmark the MLB home page and come back frequently. We will have four to six writers at each game, plus video content.

Right now we have Steve Phillips’ analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the two teams, along with scout Frankie Piliere’s take on some key matchups.

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Jeff Fletcher | October 24, 2010

A few of you who listened to me on KNBR yesterday before Game 6 were apparently pretty upset that I said the Phillies were a better team than the Giants. I did say that the Giants could still win the series, and I think I even said I expected that they would win, because they were up 3-2. I also said they had played better than the Phillies for the first five games, and in fact they played better over the whole six games.

The Giants beat the Phillies. They deserved to beat them. They outplayed them.

Now, that doesn’t mean they are better than the Phillies. By my definition, the better team is the one with better players, the one that got better results over a long period. That’s the Phillies. No question about it.

Anyway, it really doesn’t matter who is “better.” All that matters is that the Giants won. I’m sure you’d rather be the “winning team” than the “better team,” so why get upset about it?

But enough of that. Here is my main story on the Giants victory, and here is a little thing in which Jonathan Sanchez rips on Chase Utley for that whole mess.

Well, it’s 7:31 a.m. and I have not slept all night. I got back to my hotel at about 2:30 am and then just stayed up watching TV till coming to the airport at about 6, so hopefully I’ll pass out on this flight from Philly to Denver.

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Jeff Fletcher | October 23, 2010

Just went on Marty Lurie’s show on KNBR for the pregame show. Marty and everyone else is asking for analysis and predictions about what’s going to happen, and it’s all fun but there’s really no way to know any of this. (My insightful Game 6 advance is here, along with some random tidbits about the series so far.)

All I know is this: the Phillies are a better team than the Giants. When every game has started, the Phillies have put a better team on the field than the Giants have. There’s really not much disputing that.

Does that mean the Giants can’t win? No. Does it mean the Giants haven’t played better? No.

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Jeff Fletcher | October 21, 2010

Crazy thrilling wild wonderful game last night. I’d have to rank it in the top 5 I’ve seen in my life. Pretty awesome stuff there. Unfortunately, there was too much going on in that game for me to be able to write it in one coherent story, so instead you got this rambling thing.

Anyway, this morning I’m doing some laundry and packing for the trip I hope I don’t have to take, back to Philadelphia. It would be really super awesome for me and my family if the Giants won tonight, because then I’d be at home for the next week, before leaving for the middle games of the World Series. If the Giants let me down tonight and lose, I’ll be on a 6 am flight on Friday, packed for a possible two weeks if the Phillies win the series. That’s not good.

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Jeff Fletcher | October 19, 2010

The big story here is that the Phillies are still not using Roy Halladay for Game 4, even though they lost Game 3. I believe my FanHouse colleague, Tom Krasovic, is getting into that in his Phillies story (look here), while my Giants story was about Edgar Renteria and Aaron Rowand and how neat it was that a couple of old washed-up guys could come through with big hits.

The more interesting thing is the Halladay stuff, though.

I think the Giants are getting a break because of Charlie Manuel’s decision. I am pretty firmly against using pitchers on three days in the postseason because their history is that it doesn’t go so well, but I think that Roy Halladay is the exception. The guy is strong as a horse, which you can tell by looking at his career numbers. He pitches 220 innings every year, and he’s got an insane workout routine. He’s also done it six times in his career, and he’s 4-2 with a 2.78 ERA. The problem is that if the Phillies use Halladay for Game 4, they have to use Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels, also on short rest, in Games 5 and 6, and then Halladay again in Game 7. That’s the issue, apparently. Manuel doesn’t want to use either of those guys on short rest.

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Jeff Fletcher | October 19, 2010

My story at FanHouse details the changes, which mostly include a benching of Andres Torres. The interesting thing is that Bruce Bochy was very clear that he expects Torres to be back in the lineup against right-handers. Funny, because Torres’ awful slump was mostly against right-handers. Sure, he’s worse against lefties, but still not good against righties. If they do put him back in there on Wednesday against Joe Blanton, I’d expect him to be at the bottom of the lineup.

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